


A Hypothetical Question

by Kestrel337



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: April Swap, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-05-30
Packaged: 2018-01-27 15:18:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1715297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kestrel337/pseuds/Kestrel337
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur has a question for Douglas.</p>
<p>An April Swap gift fic for Mahmfic. Sorry it's late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hypothetical Question

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own these characters. I mean no disrespect toward anyone.

“Passengers out, cargo home. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, really.” 

“What are you on about, Douglas?” Martin glanced over the dials, then returned his attention to the sunset outside G-ERTI’s windscreen. 

“POSH, Martin. Port out, starboard home. But in our case it’s passengers out, cargo home.”

“Ah. POCH. It really doesn’t sound as nice, does it? But at least we get Arthur for the return trip.”

Douglas flipped the flight-deck service switch and grinned. “Very true. Our own personal steward. Let’s see what he’s brought in for our supper, shall we?”

It wasn’t long before Arthur appeared, trays in hand. “Here’s your dinner; chicken for one of you, beef for the other.” The steward’s voice was flat, his face expressionless. “Will you want coffee or tea for after?” 

“Coffee, I think, Arthur,” Martin ventured an answer, clearly confused by Arthur’s melancholy. 

“Alright. Ring when you’re ready.” He weakly pulled the curtain closed behind him. Douglas and Martin exchanged puzzled looks, then opened their respective dishes. 

“Not quite on a par with yesterday’s offering, is it?”

“The teriyaki veg, and fried rice? No, but that was home-made, wasn’t it?”

“Was it? Arthur’s skills are improving.”

“Well, Herc’s been teaching him, and Carolyn too. Did you really not know? I mean, most of our meals have been vegetarian. I thought you’d figure it out.”

“He’s teaching them to cook? Such domesticity!” Douglas might have been mocking, but Martin noticed he wasn’t eating tonight’s meal with anything approaching the enjoyment of yesterday. They flew on, occasionally checking in with the ATCs on their route, and watching the sky go dark around them. Finally, Douglas said “What do you think is bothering Arthur?” 

Martin dropped his fork in the empty tray, shook his head. “No idea. I asked him earlier, but he said he was fine.”

“And he didn’t fall over when he said it?”

Martin smiled faintly. “No, but he was twitching like a squirrel on caffeine. I decided not to risk giving him a stroke.”

Douglas nodded. “That was probably wise. Still, perhaps I’ll take a crack at it. If Sir is finished with his repast?” Martin handed over his tray, and Douglas stood up. “I’ll just take these back to the galley, help Arthur with the coffee.”

“You mean, you want to corner him and try to get some answers.”

“No, I mean I want my coffee. But I will admit to a secondary motivation. There’s three hours left in our flight time, and I don’t fancy being stuck with eeyore for company the entire time.”

He found the younger man in the tiny galley, moodily spooning coffee into two mugs. “Oh, Douglas. You didn’t need to…I’d have brought those back.” Arthur grabbed the trays and hurriedly stacked them away. "You didn't eat very much, Douglas. Wasn't it very good?"

"Certainly not as good as yesterday's."

Arthur perked up a bit at that. "Oh! Did you like that? I made it myself, you know. Herc's been teaching me how to cook vegetarian stuff."

"He's a man of many talents."

At Douglas's praise of Hercules, Arthur seemed to deflate again. “Did you want your coffee now?” 

“Yes, coffee would be nice. Is something bothering you, Arthur?” He hoped Arthur would be distracted enough by making the coffee that he'd forget he was trying to keep it a secret.

“Can I ask you a hy-” -he stopped, practiced the word silently a couple of times, nodded, and continued- “a hy-po-thet-ical question?”

“Of course. I would be glad to share with you the wisdom conferred by my age and experience.”

Arthur squinted at him. “Okay, I know you like to be funny. But this is a serious question, Douglas.” He opened the microwave and began pouring hot water carefully into the mugs. “Say there was this guy. And his parents weren’t together anymore. Mostly because his Dad isn’t a very nice man.” 

If Douglas had ever thought this purely hypothetical, the way Arthur had to force out his description would have proved otherwise. He made an encouraging noise in his throat, and Arthur continued.

“So then say his Mum meets another man. And this man is a very nice man. He’s nice to Mum, and he’s nice to, um, the guy. I mean, he’s teaching the guy how to cook and stuff, and taking the guy’s mum to the op…to nice shows. And the guy, well, his dad says some horrible things about this new man. To the guy. And the guy, well, he gets really, really mad and he looses his temper and, and, and…” Arthur seemed about to cry, trying to stir the coffee and keep his story straight. Douglas took the mugs away and stirred them, wondering if he ought to offer his handkerchief. 

But Arthur, no longer distracted by the difficulties of making coffee and explaining his question, rallied and continued. “He looses his temper, and he calls Dad a terrible name. And Dad said that if I was that disloyal, if Herc was so much better than he was, then he needn’t call anymore. And he hung up. And I…I was glad, Douglas. I was glad that he won’t call anymore. I was so glad that if felt like my heart had just swelled up like a big balloon. What would you think of someone like that, Douglas? Of someone who wasn’t sad that his own father wasn’t going to call him anymore? What would you think of a guy who replaced his own Dad with another person? Because it’s not like Mum, she divorced him, and marriage you can do that…but there’s no divorcing your parents, is there? What would you think of someone who kind of wished he could?”

Douglas took a sip of his coffee. Arthur hadn’t been overstating it when he’d said it was serious. And exactly the sort of situation Arthur, who valued loyalty and kindness above all, would find himself in and struggle with. 

“Do you really want to know what I would think of someone like that, Arthur? Someone who would stand up to Gordon Shappey, and defend a man who is good and kind to you and your Mum? Someone who clearly loves her beyond all reason, and with whom she, completely against the bounds of good taste, is completely besotted? You want to know what I think of that sort of man?”

“Yes, please.” Arthur didn’t hesitate, though his grimace was that of a doomed man, facing the firing squad of Douglas’s ill opinion.

“I think he’s very brave. I certainly wouldn’t think badly of a person who was glad that he wouldn’t be treated as a disappointment anymore. I would be amazed, and proud, that he was able to give his loyalty to someone who has done more to deserve it in the comparatively short time you’ve known him, than Gordon has done in your entire life.”

Arthur was looking at him, wide eyed and a bit shocked. “So, you don’t think I’m a terrible person for liking Herc better than my dad? You’re not disgusted?”

“Arthur, I think you are an amazing person. An amazing, and brave, and strong person who I am proud to call my friend. And if you called Gordon a ‘terrible name’ and told him off for insulting someone you admire, then I think you are _brilliant_.”


End file.
